For China, Spending Is Harder Than It Looks

Updated Feb. 12, 2013 10:05 p.m. ET

BEIJING—On paper, China's fiscal woes don't look anywhere near the problems that have bedeviled other governments: Official data show its debt and deficit as a share of gross domestic product are well below that of the U.S., for one.

Indeed, frustrated private-sector economists have long urged China to be less fiscally conservative, saying that increased spending or lower taxes is necessary to shift its economy more toward domestic...